We have yet to make plans for Thanksgiving this year -- we do not yet know if either of Daisy's sisters will be able to make it to town (one of them is on the move constantly, and the other has not yet confirmed with us whether she and the family will hit Omaha for the holiday or not). I have already taken the night before Thanksgiving and the following Sunday off work to stretch it into a five-day weekend for me, as I have the feeling I will need that breathing space regardless of what we do.
And we are well into that lead-up now, aren't we? After all, Halloween is over now and as of yesterday afternoon (though it probably started in the morning) the local "we play everything" radio station 104.5 has now switched its broadcast to 24/7 Christmas music for the remainder of the year.
It's too early, y'all. There are still turkeys and gravy to be consumed.
November 1 traditionally is the start of Gravy Season, a holiday season that if I didn't create it myself (I'm still not sure it was all me) I'm sure someone else would have at some point. I've been celebrating it, let's say, for about fifteen years give-or-take. It is a celebration of all things gravy and gravy-related, in a humorous fashion, as a counterpoint to the commercialism of Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Christmas. Honestly, I cannot have been the first person to come up with it -- there's just no way -- but it does seem to have taken off a lot over the past decade or so. Gravy Season runs until December 31st.
And this year...I'm not exactly "feelin' it," so to speak.
Don't get me wrong, I still find it amusing, but I am just not into the holiday spirit yet. I think the election is weighing heavily on my mind, and I also think that I've been under a very large amount of stress for so long that it's really difficult to shift my mindset into something new and festive/fun at the moment. The weather isn't even really Novemberish yet:
Like, that's September weather, or early October weather at best. It's not the weather we should be having leading up to Thanksgiving.
I'm not against this, mind you, but still. It doesn't feel like the holidays yet. And I think that's a big part of it. When I have to wear a coat when leaving the house for anything, or when I must wear socks and slippers and pajama pants in the house -- that's when I think it'll feel like the holidays are upon us.
Or when it snows for the first time.
Last year, it waited until after Thanksgiving to snow -- it was almost perfectly timed, actually. Thanksgiving last year was November 23. Our first snow was November 25. That snow sort of ushered in the real holiday season and got me into the mood for it.
This year, Thanksgiving is late -- it's the 28th, which is almost the latest day it can actually be (y'know, because calendars). There's a non-zero chance we'll have snow before Thanksgiving Day, as we've had snow here in Omaha in early October before. I don't care about snow that much anymore; I don't have to be out in it most of the time for any real reason, and as long as my internet works and the power doesn't go out...fuck it, I'm fine here inside my warm house with the wife and the cats with a fridge and pantry full of food.
My Christmas shopping is essentially done; Daisy is getting what she asked for, and I've made tie-dyes for basically everyone else I'd send gifts to. I have to get a few little things for my parents still, and we'll likely pick up a few things for Daisy's parents here and there (we've already been doing this, off and on), but otherwise I've mostly finished. I have no real regrets, and I've stayed budget-conscious where possible.
As I've also mentioned before, the Christmas cards are done. They were designed, ordered, delivered, and are awaiting Black Friday to begin being sent out -- with several sheets of new stamps to be used for them, too.
But the holiday spirit? I'm not feelin' it yet. And I don't know when or if it's going to come.
I did get confirmation from Daisy this morning that yes, I can go ahead and do tie-dyes for the rest of the family -- her sister, our brother-in-law, and all five of their kids -- because yes, they will appreciate them. So I am not done yet, not by a long shot. That means I ordered several more packs of shirts this morning and a few more dye sets. My hopes are that I can be done, and I mean fully done, by Thanksgiving. Any leftover shirts I'll box away for following holidays such as birthdays and the like. Or maybe I'll give some out to some random folks or other friends for Christmas this year; I mean, I do have the shipping boxes already. I am guessing this will be part of the last real "Christmas shopping" I'll have to do for anyone.
I've swapped out my wardrobes for the most part -- I moved the lighter shirts to the back and moved the sweaters, hoodies, and jacket-like shirts to the front. I have stored the vast majority of my shorts for the winter. I have put away all of my sandals except for the pair I'm wearing. Daisy has cleaned out the last of the garden and has performed her final harvest from it. I'm already getting push notifications from my Walmart app on the phone for early Black Friday deals. And, of course, the fall allergies have arrived for both of us -- they arrived weeks ago.
My sleep schedules are very off and/or are somewhat haphazard -- I have not been sleeping that well during the daytime hours, and when I get to the weekend (the times where I don't have to sleep on a schedule because of work) it feels like anything goes for my body and I absolutely can pass out at any time for a long stretch of hours, usually in my chair. In the past 24 hours, I've slept almost 10 of them across two different sessions. I'll have to take another nap this afternoon/evening before I work tonight, too -- I can't stay up for a full 24+ hours anymore despite how hard I try sometimes. My body will absolutely no longer allow that.
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